Greta Van Susteren Sits Down With Sarah Palin for First Post-Election Interview

Sarah Palin says she hasn't had a chance to take in all the changes that have occurred in her life in the past two and a half months, after posting a whirlwind presidential election campaign alongside John McCain and facing down some deep and biting criticism from the Republican camp's own aides.

"You asked if I took time to pinch myself. I still haven't had time to do that," the Alaska governor told FOX News' Greta van Susteren in an interview scheduled to air Monday night.

"From the beginning, there had been doors opened through the years and I'd plowed through some of them on my own, but went through them anyways ... but there was a lot of preparation and opportunity that met (them) at the same time," she said.

Watch FOX News' "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren" Monday night at 10 p.m. ET to see Palin's first post-election television interview.

In the interview, Palin discussed the unique beauty of her home state and reflected People magazine's story on her son, Trig, who was born this year with Down Syndrome.

"So this mama duck and its babies waddle across the yard, and immediately after a mama moose and 2-day-old calves," Palin said. "They had just been dropped down the driveway a couple days earlier. They came prancing across the lawn. These People magazine photographers, I'm sure they thought, 'Wow, this is surreal. What a neat place,' which it is, of course."

In separate interviews, Palin tried to put to rest rumors that she was not the mother of 6-month-old Trig and said she never tried to ban books like "Harry Potter" from local Alaska libraries.

"Some of the goofy things like who was Trig's mom. Well, I'm Trig's mom and do you want to see my medical records to prove that?" Palin told the Anchorage Daily News and KTUU Channel 2.

Palin is coming off a whirlwind nine weeks of almost nonstop travel and campaigning since becoming McCain's running mate in late August. In recent days, she has been facing a hail of criticism from some former McCain campaign staffers who say she was misinformed about several foreign affairs issues and was at odds with McCain strategists.

In the interview with the Anchorage Daily News and KTUU Channel 2 in Alaska, Palin blamed the Bush administration for McCain's defeat.

"I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a 10 trillion dollar debt in a Republican administration?" Palin said in that interview.

Meanwhile, McCain will give his first post-election television interview with comedian Jay Leno on Tuesday. McCain will appear on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in honor of Veteran's Day, the network said. The Arizona senator is a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war.